The Summer Was Full of Mistakes We Wouldn't Learn
by lostANDdelirious-malex
Summary: Alex Kelly befriends the curly-haired Seth Cohen at the beginning of their last year in college in Manhattan. At the end of their college journey, Seth introduces Alex to one of former roommates, Marissa Cooper.
1. Chapter 1

"The Summer Was Full of Mistakes We Wouldn't Learn From"

**Hey, all. I know I have an unfinished story posted on here, but something really compelled me to start writing this. I hope you all enjoy it, and please let me know what you think **

Chapter 1

It was nearing the end of an era – Alex's last college semester, to be precise. The girl was finishing her undergraduate career at New York University. She walked out of a classroom, having finished her last exam, for the last time in her life; grad school was definitely not in her future. Happy to be over with everything, she slung her book bag over her shoulder with a smile on her face, and started to head towards the building's exit.

"Coming to the party tonight?" Seth asked, catching up to his friend, having finished his exam shortly after the blonde.

"I don't know. Would it be weird? It's a going away party for someone I've never met before." Alex asked, not completely sold on the idea of trekking into Brooklyn from her downtown Manhattan apartment.

Seth's ex-girlfriend, Summer, was moving out of her Brooklyn apartment to move back home to Southern California. Seth dated her for four years – the relationship had it's ups and downs, but ultimately came to a crashing hault. In the duration of their relationship, the couple rescued a puppy from a shelter; after the split, they decided to share custody of him, as if it was a real child.

Seth and Alex met in a sociology class the previous semester. Though they didn't know each other for a long period of time, they immediately hit it off. The two became best friends – Seth always hung around Alex, her friends, and her girlfriend, Jodie. However, Alex never really hung around Seth's close friends.

The curly-haired boy was born and raised in Brooklyn, though his parents uprooted and moved to Seattle during his sophomore year. He met most of his closest friends through Summer, so it's safe to say that after the break up, there was a little tension put on his friendships, which is why he never really introduced Alex and his new friends to them.

"Not weird at all. Bring Jodie, too. I invited Anna, Luke, and Naomi, also. They're all coming, so you sort of have to… since they're your friends." Seth smiled.

"I don't know if Jodie's going to want to come, but I'll talk to her and let you know." Alex said, still not sold.

"Well Luke has his mom's car in the city for the week, so we're picking Naomi up from your guys' place. You'll have a ride, door-to-door." Seth replied, trying to convince the girl to come.

"Fine, fine. I'll see you later." Alex said, giving into the boy and telling him exactly what he wanted to hear. "If Jodie doesn't want to come, she can stay home anyway. She's been really lame lately and it's getting really annoying."

"Well, I'm glad to see that you've finally realized that…" Seth mumbled, in reply.

Alex and Jodie had met through mutual friends. The pair casually dated for a few months, meaning they had a lot of meaningless sex for a while. But out of the blue, it suddenly turned into a relationship. Both girls were fine with it – they grew rather fond of each other, but most of Alex's close friends realized that as the girls' relationship progressed, Jodie became more and more hesitant to go out with the group of friends. You see, Alex's group of friends enjoyed going out, drinking, and mingling with anyone and everyone. As a few months passed by, Jodie was becoming more and more introverted.

"Shut up. She just moved here, she has no family here, and she's adjusting to her new job. She just needs some time to settle in, and she'll be back to her old self." Alex stated, defending her girlfriend.

"You should probably stop making excuses for her, because once you truly realize how much she sucks, you're going to feel like an idiot. Oh, and I meant all of that with love." Seth smiled, knowing he was angering the girl. "But I hope me saying this doesn't change your mind about tonight, because you're coming and that's that."

Alex rolled her eyes at the boy, and headed towards the subway. They had a great friendship – they knew how to push each others' buttons, but only did so when absolutely necessary. It wasn't that Seth didn't "like" Jodie. He just didn't "like" her for Alex. He became friends with the blonde a few months prior to her meeting Jodie, so even though they hadn't been friends for too long, he felt that his friendship with Alex was more influential than hers with Jodie.

Alex made her way downtown to her apartment, to find Jodie passed out in her bed. In typical lesbian fashion, Alex had a key made for her girlfriend the day after they made their relationship "official."

"Babe, we're going to a party tonight." Alex said, throwing her bag on top of her girlfriend.

Waking up and slightly confused, Jodie rubbed her eyes and pushed the bag off the bed. "What?" was all she could muster.

"Seth's ex-girlfriend, Summer, is moving out of the city and is having a huge bonfire in her backyard tonight. We're going. Luke's picking us up, he has his mom's car for the week." Alex told Jodie, relaying the information Seth had previously given her.

After much convincing, Alex finally got her girlfriend to get ready for the party. The pair, alongside Alex's roommate, Naomi, ventured outside to hop in Luke's car and make way to Brooklyn.

"Wait, so what kind of party is this?" Jodie asked Seth, who was in the front seat with Luke.

"My ex's going away party. I actually used to live in this apartment with her. It's huge, and sick, and has a ridiculous backyard. It's in Williamsburg, right over the bridge. Amazing area." Seth said, smiling. He continued, "She lives there with Marissa, Paige, and Danny – but Danny just moved out and apparently some new kid, Ryan, is moving in."

"Oh, cool." Jodie replied, sounding less than enthused.

Alex nudged her girlfriend, but she just responded with a shrug.

Rolling her eyes, Naomi pepped up, "I'm excited to meet your friends, Seth. It seemed like you were some nomad that popped out of nowhere. It's good to know you're not some weirdo with no friends that latched onto us so quickly."

"I'm not a weirdo, Naomi. I may be a nerd and a geek, but I'm definitely not a weirdo." Seth pointed out.

"Aren't those all synonyms, anyway, Cohen?" Luke asked, teasing the boy.

"Shut up, Luke." Seth said, crossing his arms across his chest, feigning hurt.

The group of friends, sans Jodie, all knew each other from college. Alex, Luke, Naomi, and Anna had been inseparable since their freshmen year, while Alex met Seth the beginning of their senior year in a sociology class.

Before they knew it, Luke had the car parked. They ran into the corner store to pick up a few beers, then made their way to the apartment.


	2. Chapter 2

"The Summer Was Full of Mistakes We Wouldn't Learn From"

**Here's the next bit…. Hope you guys like it! Keep reading, I promise it's going to get better ;)**

Chapter 2

"She's awfully sociable with everyone other than us." Seth said to Alex, looking over at Jodie. The girl had taken a liking to Summer, and vice versa. The two paired up to play beer pong against two of Summer's friends from school.

"Yeah, let her be. She's probably just trying to seem fun and interesting so people will draw attention to her and like her." Alex laughed.

"Damn, that was harsh. Did she fuck your boyfriend or something?" a tall brunette asked, leaning across the table the two were sitting at, to grab another drink.

Taken aback, all Alex could say was, "Excuse me?"

"Sorry. Hey, I'm Summer's roommate, Marissa. I just figured with the way you were shit-talking that girl, she must have fucked your boyfriend or something." Marissa said, matter-of-factly, almost too comfortable and over-confident. She then leaned towards the lanky, curly-haired boy, and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "Hey, Sethica. Long time no see. Stop disappearing on us."

"Yeah, well maybe if Summer stopped banning me from coming to the apartment… anyway, this is my friend Alex." Seth replied, motioning towards his friend.

"Sorry, again. It's nice to meet you, Alex. I come off a little strong, I guess. I'm sort of an acquired taste." Marissa smiled.

"Yeah, I can see that. I suppose it's nice to meet you too." Alex said, finally smiling back.

There was something about Marissa that caught Alex's attention. The girl had her hair up in a messy ponytail, and was dressed very casual. She was actually dressed quite differently than the rest of the crowd there that night – Alex categorized everyone else as a "hipster." Marissa's manner of speaking really threw Alex off, as well, but she realized she shouldn't take offense to anything the other girl said.

"Well, who is this little guy and what the hell is he wearing?" Alex said, bringing the other two's attention to a little dog walking into the kitchen, wearing what seemed to be a diaper of some sort.

"This little guy is actually a little lady, and this little lady belongs to Marissa." Seth said, laughing. "She's the worst dog ever. Everyone hates her."

"Go to hell Seth. She's a princess and she's perfect – something you'll never be." Marissa said, scooping the dog up to kiss her.

"What's with the diaper?" Alex asked, scared of what the answer may be.

"She's on her period." Marissa said, nonchalantly.

"On her what? Excuse me?" Alex asked, slightly appalled.

"Marissa refuses to spade her because she wants to have Josie puppies ones day." Seth laughed.

"It's not funny. I've come to terms with the fact that Josie isn't going to live as long as I do, so I have to take matters into my own hands and have baby Josies one day, so her legacy can live on." Marissa said, but with most of her attention on the dog, rather than the two people she was conversing with.

"Is she psycho?" Alex whispered to Seth.

"I can hear you, you know. No, I'm not psycho. I'm just in love with my Josie." Marissa said, still not looking at the other two people involved in the conversation.

Alex just smiled and shook her head at the girl. She was odd, that was a fact. However, she was also in love with her dog, which Alex found to be rather cute.

"Babe, you ready to go?" Jodie asked, approaching the group.

Confused, Alex replied, "We drove with Luke and everyone, and they're not exactly leaving yet."

"We can take the subway or something. Let's bounce." Jodie insisted.

"I'm sure Luke's almost ready anyway, it's getting kind of late. Why don't you wait a little longer and we can all leave together?" Seth offered, not really ready to leave yet.

"I'm not really ready yet, and I came knowing we'd have a ride home with Luke. I don't want to take the train. This is Marissa, by the way." Alex said, introducing the girls, and rather embarrassed at the way Jodie was acting.

"Hey, Jodie. Nice to meet you. You guys should stay a little longer, the night is young!" Marissa smiled, trying to play nice. There was something about Jodie that made Marissa realize she couldn't joke with her the way she always does with Seth – the way she just did with Alex.

"Hey, you too." Jodie replied to the other brunette. "I have work tomorrow, though, Alex. I want to have enough sleep."

"What do you do?" Marissa asked, butting in. "I have to get up early, too. I have a final at 9am."

"I do hair. Mostly cutting and styling, just started to learn color recently, though." Jodie said, sounding very proud of her field. "And an exam at 9am? Must be an easy one of your roommate is having a party and you're attending and not studying."

"No, it's actually one of my hardest classes. I've been studying all week, though. Studied out!" Marissa smiled, kind of wanting out of this conversation, and kicking Seth to let him know so.

"Ouch!" Seth exclaimed, averting all eyes on him.

Not really caring, Jodie looked at her girlfriend. The look basically read: Let's leave now. Even though the blonde was against the idea, especially because she had met some really cool people, and was just starting to get to know Marissa, she obliged.

"We have the car, though. I don't want to stay out that late, either. I'll leave in thirty minutes if you guys want." Luke said, not wanting Alex to leave just yet.

"It's cool, we can take the train." Jodie replied, before Alex could get anything in.

"Yeah, but it's nearly 1am. The trains are running every thirty to forty minutes and you're going to have to transfer trains, as well. If you leave now, you'll probably get home around the same time as we would, if we left in 30 minutes. It makes no sense, Jodie." Luke said, totally fed up with the girl.

"It's cool, Luke. We'll take the train." Jodie said, smiling at the boy, as if she was above him, not realizing she was making a complete ass out of herself.

Rolling her eyes, Alex embarrassingly mouthed the word "Sorry" to her friends. She thanks Summer for having her, said goodbye to all the people she had met – well, everyone except Marissa, who disappeared. She figured the girl had gone to bed for the night, considering she had an exam in the morning.

Alex and Jodie walked 5 blocks in silence on the way to the train. Alex was upset Jodie made her leave, and Jodie was aware of that. What she didn't realize was that she had embarrassed Alex in front of her friends and everyone they had just met. Jodie and Alex were two completely different people that had somehow found each other and more or less, made their relationship work. There were moments such as this one, in which they could not understand each others actions or words, or even how they carry themselves.

Luke was right. After the painstakingly awful wait and ride on the subway, the duo walked back to Alex's apartment. Approaching the front door, they heard the sound of a car honking – it was Luke, pulling up to the apartment to drop Naomi home. Seth getting out of the car, as well, to crash on their couch.

"Told you so, lesbos." Luke said with a cocky grin on his face, driving away.

Alex rolled here eyes for the umpteenth time that night. It had gone from a fun night to a dreadful mess and she wasn't a fan of that. She made her way upstairs, didn't say a word to anyone, got ready for bed, changed, and fell asleep with her back facing her girlfriend – a way she rarely slept.


	3. Chapter 3

"The Summer Was Full of Mistakes We Wouldn't Learn From"

**Thank you to those who are reading this! Just trying to keeps our girls, Malex, alive ;) … here's the next part. There will be more interaction between the girls veeeery soon!**

Chapter 3

"Jodie's an asshole." Luke said, a bit tipsy from the drink in his hand.

"She's not that bad." Alex defended, but knowing her friend was right.

"I don't want you to take offense to what I'm saying, because in the beginning she was really cool and everything, but you really deserve much better than what she's giving you. I'm just saying this because you're one of my best friends, Al. You deserve way better. I hate to say it, but you've got pretty bad taste in women." Luke went on.

"Wow. Thanks a lot." Alex rolled her eyes and took another sip of her beer. "I didn't really ask for your opinion, though, Luke."

"Well I'm giving it to you because I'm the only one with the balls to say it. You're getting defensive because you know it's true." The sandy-haired boy said, hoping to knock some sense into the blonde.

It was about a week after Summer's going away party. After Jodie's asinine comments, Naomi, Anna, Luke, and Seth had all started to realize Alex needed to let this girl go. The group didn't quite understand why Alex was even holding onto the girl. Prior to her, she was sleeping with whomever she wanted to, she had great friends to hang out with nonstop, and she always had a drinking buddy. Jodie really wasn't filling any void in Alex's life, because Alex had none to fill.

Alex stood up and walked towards the rest of the group. They were all at their favorite bar, Luke had just taken Alex to the back to "talk."

"I can't believe Luke." Alex said, walking up to Anna.

"What happened? Did he turn down another prospect?" Anna asked. It was a well-known fact that Luke hadn't had sex in about a year. The boy was very good looking, he just had a pretty bad case of social anxiety that haltered any sort of sexual advances.

Alex couldn't help but laugh at her friend's comment, "No, no. He wishes someone would start talking to him. But he's just going off about Jodie saying that I deserve someone better than her. Who is he to butt into my relationship, you know? He can't even get a girl to date him."

"Well, he does have a point. She has been kind of rude lately. Not to mention lame." Anna pointed out, a little scared of what her friend's reaction would be.

At this point, Alex realized her friends were sort of right. Sure, Jodie was fun in the beginning of their relationship, but that fizzled out fast. It went from the two of them going out dancing every night, to Alex waiting for Jodie to come home from work with a home-cooked meal waiting upon her arrival. The two turned into an old-married couple way too fast. Sure, some people want this in a relationship, but not when the relationship is only a few months old and you're in your early twenties.

"I guess I see where you guys are coming from…" Alex mumbled, having the realization really hitting her.

"What are you lesbos talking about?" Seth asked, walking up to the girls and handing Alex another beer.

"Thanks. We're talking about how everyone apparently hates my girlfriend and no one has had the balls to tell me until now." Alex said, giving the boy a sarcastic smile, then thanking him for the beer.

"Oh, right. Yeah, she sucks. Can we find you a new lady? That should be the mission tonight. To find both of us new ladies." Seth said, rubbing his hands together and emitting a sinister laugh.

"Ew. Never do that again, please. You sound like a creep. And we can find me a new lady, but after I have a talk with Jodie. I'm not going to cheat on her." Alex said, taking a sip from her beer, suddenly realizing that being single again may be fun.

"Funny how you've cheated on all your awesome girlfriends, but once you have a shitty one, you decide to have morals." Seth joked, but receiving a 'death' glare from Anna and a hard shove from Alex.

"Dude." Anna said, hoping Seth would shut up. The boy was one of Alex's best friends, but he had a pretty bad filter on his mouth. He never really knew what he was and wasn't allowed to talk about.

"That was years ago, Cohen. But thanks for bringing it up. I'm not going to cheat on Jodie… but give me your phone." Alex demanded.

Whenever the girl asked, the boy always handed it over. Most of the time, meaning 'all the time,' this resulted with Alex changing the boy's Twitter or Facebook status to something obscene and crude. She also had a knack for picking random numbers in the boy's phone and sending out sexts, clearly as a joke. Even though she did this every time, for some odd reason, the boy always handed his phone to the blonde.

"Oh shit. Wait, what are you doing? Please no sexting tonight." Seth begged, realizing what he had just done.

"No sexting, don't worry. All done. Here." Alex said, giving the phone back to the boy.

Seth checked Facebook and Twitter and nothing was changed, "Shit, Al. Who'd you text?" The boy said out loud as he opened his text messages. "Oh. Wow." He said, laughing, after reading what the girl had done. "Really?" he asked his friend, curious to see if what she said was true.

"Yeah, I mean… why not?" Alex said, giving the boy a cocky grin and taking a swig from her beer.

"My friends, the old Alex is back!" Seth screamed to the whole bar, causing all the drunk people to cheer – even though no one really knew what they were cheering about.

"I don't get it. What happened?" Anna asked, grabbing Seth's phone. She scrolled through his texts to find the one Alex had just sent out: 

_Sent to: Marissa Cooper_

_Alex thinks you're hot._

Anna laughed as she handed Seth his phone, "Alex, are you kidding me?"

"No, why? She's hot." Alex smiled, finding what she had done to be very silly, even though it was the truth. After Alex had gotten back from the party that night, it would be a lie to say she didn't immediately "Friend Request" Marissa on Facebook.

"She's okay. And that just made you sound like you were in high school." Anna said, shaking her head at the girl.

"What's going on here?" Naomi asked, approaching the group.

"Alex thinks Marissa is hot." Anna said, "Oh, and she texted her from Seth's phone telling her so."

"Are you in junior high, Lex? Jesus. Is she even a lezza?" Naomi asked. It wasn't even a question that had crossed Alex's mind, but now she was wondering too.

"First of all, Naomi. What did I say about using weird British slang? You really need to stop watching British television. I'm going to hide your computer to stop you from watching all that crap. Secondly, Seth, is she?" Alex asked.

"Marissa? A lesbian? Absolutely not. The girl is as straight as an arrow, but we all know that's your type, so I suggest you attempt to hit it, then quit it right after." Seth told the girl.

He was right – Alex had a fascination with straight girls. It seemed that 75% of the girls she dated or hooked up with were in fact, straight. The other 25% consisted of asshole lesbians that none of her friends even liked. Basically, to everyone, Alex had the worst taste in girls.

"Should we pool money to see if Alex can get this one?" Naomi asked the group, pretending to pull money out of her back pocket.

Seth looked down to his phone and a smile appeared on his face. "What's with the creep-o smile?" Alex asked, seeing the boy's face light up.

Without saying anything, he handed his phone over to the blonde.

_Tell blondie to get on over here._

Alex's face lit up, her grin matching the one plastered on Seth's face, "So who's putting money on this, because it's definitely on."


	4. Chapter 4

"The Summer Was Full of Mistakes We Wouldn't Learn From"

**Thanks again for reading and reviewing. Let me know what you guys think… hope you enjoy the story so far! :)**

Chapter 4  
>"So what's the deal for tonight?" Alex asked, plopping on her and Naomi's big, comfy, couch.<p>

Seth, a very frequent house guest, was in the kitchen making the two roommates' lunch. He was about to open his mouth to suggest a bar he's been wanting to try out, but was interrupted by a vibration, followed by the sounds of "Call It Off" by Tegan and Sara – all emitting from his pants.

"Your ringtone is not Tegan and Sara, Seth." Naomi stated, shaking her head at the boy. "You're such a lezza deep down inside!" the shorter-haired blonde smiled, one – because the boy had great taste in music, something she always admired in someone, and two – she knew Alex was going to yell at her for saying "lezza" again.

"Really, dude?" Alex asked Naomi and she walked into the kitchen to see who Seth was talking to. He heard the boy giving directions to their apartment and wanted to know why he was inviting someone over without even asking – not that they didn't trust Seth's friends or judgment, but this was something the boy rarely did.

"You're welcome." Seth said, putting his phone back in his pocket, and continuing to make lunch.

"For?" Alex and Naomi both said in unison, as if they were two kids trying to figure out what sort of surprise their mom and dad had gotten them on Christmas or something.

"Marissa is on her way with beer for us. She just finished her last exam and wants to get drunk – apparently they're having another party at their apartment tonight. Danny is backpacking through Europe all summer and leaving in a few days, so this is his bon voyage." Seth told the girls, who both obviously wanted to go.

"Should I invite Luke and Anna?" Alex asked, excited for this party. This time around, Jodie wouldn't be there, dragging her feet and such. Alex had a talk with the girl and they were basically over. The last thing left for the girls to do was exchange their stuff, then be on their ways apart.

"Yeah, I think Anna is hanging out with Jay and her girlfriend tonight also, but they can come too. It's going to be a huge party so we can bring whoever, as long as we bring our own alcohol." Seth said, "It's going to be weird without Summer, though." The boy frowned, "I'm not sure if you met the people from across the hall, but the backyard is shared between both apartments, so they're all best friends. It's going to be fun."

"Yeah it sounds like it, I'm excited." Naomi smiled, as she made herself a plate of the fresh burgers and homemade fries Seth just cooked. "Unbelievable, this burger looks bloody brilliant."

Seth laughed at the girl's usage of British slang, something that happened to become more and more frequent. Alex just rolled her eyes.

"So Marissa knows shes coming to our place, right?" Alex asked, wondering if Seth mentioned Alex to the brunette at all.

"You were standing right next to me, Lex. I said I was at yours and Naomi's place making lunch and that she should come hang out with us so we could start drinking for the party tonight. She's coming from midtown, picking up beer, then coming straight here, so give her thirty minutes or so." Seth said.

"Give me some information on this girl." Alex said, trying to get some stuff figured out about the girl before she got there.

"She double majored in political science and international studies, she has a minor in literature, she's actually a year older than me… which makes her two years older than you guys. She's straight, had a boyfriend for over two years and they broke up last fall. She's a health freak, she's obsessed with her dog, and she's out of her mind. She's literally crazy, but in the best way possible. But still, really crazy." Seth said, now remembering some of the things she would say and do when he lived with the girl.

Raising a brow, Alex asked, "Like, kill me in my sleep, crazy? Or would punch someone in the face for making fun of her dog, crazy?"

"More like killing someone in their sleep for making fun of her dog. And I wish I was kidding." The boy replied, smirking.

"Oh my." Naomi said, walking out of the kitchen.

"Give me your phone." Alex told the boy, ignoring his statement that basically made Marissa look like she had a personality disorder.

Again, the boy obliged. She opened his text messages and started typing to Marissa, when she realized the girl had sent Seth a text,

_Be there sooner than I thought. Forgot I didn't have my ID on me, long story and super great, you'll die. Going to need someone to come to the store to purchase the liquid love. See you soon. xx!_

"Ew, she says 'xx' in her text messages?" Alex said, crinkling her nose. "Is she one of _those_ girls, Seth?"

"She says shit like that, but whatever. What else did she say?" The boy asked, assuming she had just sent him something.

"Something about a long story she has to tell you and she's coming here first because she doesn't have her ID." Alex said, handing the boy his phone back.

"Oh, shit. Summer told me something about a cab driver robbing her the other night or something, but it was just insane. She's going to be in crazy mode when she tells the story, it's going to be something like you've never seen before." Seth said, realizing that Alex and Naomi will see how over-the-top Marissa could be.

"Oh, great. Another crazy girl for Alex to get hooked on." Naomi scoffed.

"Hush, I'm sure she's not that crazy, right?" Alex replied, then turned to Seth.

"I mean, as long as it's not Jodie you're swooning over, I'll let it go. I'll encourage this straight girl for you, just please don't get back with your shitty ex." Naomi smiled, before stepping into her room. "I'm re-reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Don't bother me – I'll be ready to leave for the party tonight in a few hours, so don't worry."

Alex just shook her head and smiled at her roommate. It was crazy how well they loved each other and got along, because they were quite different. Alex hadn't picked up a book to read leisurely since God knows when. She skimmed by in college, everyone was actually surprised that she finished on time. Naomi, even though she went out and like to have a good time, was just all-around a more responsible person and a more functioning member of society, overall.

Alex and Seth were eating lunch when the doorbell rang. Instinctively, Alex rose to her feet to answer the door, even though it was Seth's guest that was arriving.

"Hey, buddy." Alex said, as she hugged Marissa hello.

"Hey there, yourself, blondie." Marissa said, into the hug, as Seth rolled his eyes.

"Get a room." Seth said sarcastically as Marissa made her way to the boy to hug him.

"Jealous that all the attention isn't on you, Sethy?" Marissa asked, tussling the boy's curly brown hair.

"Hey! The hair, watch it. This Jew fro is hard to maintain." Seth replied, running his hands through his brown locks, trying to fix the slight tangles Marissa just made. "So should we get beer before you tell us the story, or should we hear the story first?"

"I vote story, then beer." Alex said, sitting down and taking a bite of the food Seth had made. "And I only say this because I'm still eating and would like to finish." The blonde smiled.

"Nice. Well it's a fun story…" Marissa said, rolling her eyes.

The brunette proceeded to tell the pair about how she went out the other night and basically got robbed by her cab driver. Marissa was at a party that had an open vodka bar – according to her, vodka is alcohol that takes the biggest toll on her. She said she got into the cab and told the driver the cross streets of her apartment. She was dozing a little, but noticed that the meter was running unusually high to get from the area she was at to back to her place. She questioned the driver, he pulled the car over, locked the doors, and told the girl he could "think of another way she could pay him." Needless to say, Marissa cursed him off, threw her purse in his face, unlocked her door, and ran out.

The girl nonchalantly told the story, as she grabbed Alex's fork out of her hand and took a bite from her food.

Alex and Seth just sat there with their mouths agape. Neither really knowing how to respond to her story, both just saying "Holy shit."

Marissa put the fork back in Alex's hand, where she took it from and looked at the speechless blonde, "So you down to come get some beer with me, blondie?"

Without saying a word, Alex got up, grabbed her wallet, put her shoes on, "Who is this girl?" she asked Seth, clearly joking since Marissa was right there and part of the conversation.

"I'm the best person you'll ever meet. It sounds like a good thing, but I promise you it's not." Marissa said to the girl, looking her straight in the eye.

Seth shook his head, and again, Alex was left speechless. Something that never happened to the girl.

"Beer?" She asked, then opened her front door and walked out.


	5. Chapter 5

"The Summer Was Full of Mistakes We Wouldn't Learn From"

**Sorry this chapter took so long to post! I've had a bit of writer's block, but I think I'll be fine now… thanks again for reading and reviewing and adding to your favorites list! I really appreciate it! Hope you like this next part… :)**

Chapter 5

The group had finally made their way back to Marissa's apartment for Danny's going away party. It wasn't until a bottle of vodka and many bottles of beer, but they finally made their way. It was the first time Alex had ever taken the subway to this part of Brooklyn – the commute wasn't bad at all, and she had really taken a liking to the neighborhood from just the short walk.

When they rounded the corner of Marissa's street, the girl took a sharp turn and jumped into the corner store, or "Bodega" as she called it, to grab more beer.

"Hey guys!" She screamed at the men behind the counter.

"Marissa, hello!" the middle-aged, middle-Eastern man said, then continued, "Where's Josie?"

After grabbing a few more beers and setting them on the counter, she finally replied, "Home, heading there now! I was just in Manhattan with these kids, but finally convinced them that Brooklyn is the place to be." She winked, handing the man money for the beer, then leading the group out the door.

"Dude, I can't believe he still works there." Seth said, as they walked out the door.

"He owns it, idiot. All the younger dudes are his sons and nephews." Marissa laughed, opening a beer to drink while walking from the bodega to her apartment.

"Really?" Alex asked the girl, raising a brow at the beer in her hand.

"Yeah, Isn't that illegal?" Naomi asked, scrunching her nose up. "I mean, I know it's illegal, but, does no one care around here?"

"I live three doors down from where we're standing right now. Not a big deal, girls." Marissa replied, handing the beer to Alex to hold, and searching her purse for her keys. "Goddamn, I think I lost my keys again." She continued, then proceeded to ring the buzzer profusely and knock on the door like she was about to be mugged or something.

"What took you guys so long? I'm wasted already. Everyone's out back." Danny said, leading everyone to the backyard.

Alex walked through the apartment, observing things a little better than her previous visit there. She noticed the lot of photos hanging, most with Marissa, Summer, Paige, and Danny in them – they weren't just roommates, they were all clearly best friends.

The blond lagged behind the group a little, but caught up with everyone in the backyard. The amount of people that attended this party definitely surpassed the last one they were at. Alex scanned the crowd for familiar faces – she saw Naomi chatting it up with some girl, the body language between the two showed that the unidentified girl was a lesbian, or at least a girl that was into Naomi. Luke and Anna were both chatting with Paige, who did a lot of work in the fashion industry, someone both Alex's friends found extremely interesting. Alex grabbed a beer from the cooler near the bonfire and took a seat to just observe everyone around her.

She turned her head and saw Marissa hugging Danny, and looking extremely pleased doing so. The brunette continued to jump up and down and scream and shout and everything else that would make it apparent she was happy about something. Alex just shook her head, smiled, and took another sip.

Then, Danny got in front of the bonfire and screamed that he had an announcement to make, "Everyone, listen up!" was enough for him to catch everyone's attention. He continued, "As you all know, this party is being thrown in my honor, on the note that I am leaving for Europe in two weeks. Well, plans have changed. I got a big boy job and now I'll be staying, so this party is now in honor of my hiring at Teach for America!"

Everyone, completely drunk, started hooting and hollering at the boy – Danny had applied a long time ago, went through the grueling hiring process, then never heard back. He figured he wasn't going to get the job, so he booked his trip accordingly. Well, just the day before, he caught news that he would, in fact, be staying in Brooklyn.

"They hire alcoholics?" someone screamed from the crowd.

"No, just closeted alcoholics." Danny shouted back, smiling, as he made his way towards his roommates.

"What about the dude moving in?" Paige asked, feeling sorry for whoever was supposed to take Danny's place in the apartment.

"Well, Tony from upstairs needed a sublet for a few months, so Ryan's going to be moving to the third floor. It all worked out pretty well, huh?" Danny said with a huge smile on his face – this was something he had been hoping for, and though Europe is amazing, he knew it would always be there for him to visit.

"Thank God. I thought I was going to be down two best friends this summer." Marissa said, hugging the boy again. "Roof?" she then asked.

"Yes! Roof!" Seth said, butting into the conversation. "Alex, you have to come up here, the view is ridiculous. You'll fall in love with Brooklyn, I promise."

Alex looked in Marissa's direction, "Well, I guess it's time for the roof."

Marissa smiled at the blonde and stepped forward, leading the way.

"Uh, is this safe?" Alex asked as the bunch shimmied around some pipes.

"Not really. We're technically not allowed on the roof, but we come up here all the time anyway." Danny said, jumping from the pipe to a shaky looking ladder.

"Great." Alex said, watching everyone shimmy their way up three flights of rusted ladders.

She was the last to make her way to the top – not only was she the last one to climb up, she also happened to climb the slowest. By the time she got up there, everyone was sitting down, cozily, staring at the view before them.

"Wow. Holy shit." Was all the blonde could get out.

"Yeah, I told you so." Seth said, turning around and smiling at his friend.

Alex started walking over to Seth, when she saw an empty space to sit right by Marissa. She opted for the attractive brunette, rather than her best friend.

"Liking Brooklyn?" Marissa asked, as Alex took the seat next to her.

"Loving it, actually. This view just sold me." Alex smiled back.

"Yeah, it's pretty great. After living here, I don't think I could ever go back to living in Manhattan. It's like two completely different worlds." Marissa said, taking a sip of her drink. "Hey, by any chance, are you a nurse?"

Alex's smile soon turned to a flabbergasted look, "What?"

"Are you a nurse?" Marissa asked again.

"No." Alex replied, still very confused. "Why?"

"Because you're really nursing that beer. Drink up, blondie. You've been working on that bottle since you got here." Marissa said, walking away.

Alex shouted out after her, suddenly feeling a burst of confidence, "Oh, so you've been watching me this whole time?"

"Don't be cocky, blondie. I'm good at making observations. You're not the only person I've noticed things about tonight, don't get it twisted." Marissa smiled, then climbed down from the roof.

"Oh, burn." Seth laughed.


End file.
